Rank: 54
Code: Yellow
(See Blandin Foundation interactive map)

Le Sueur County: When Federal Funding gets in the way

Le Sueur County ranks 54 (down four places) for broadband access out of 87 counties. Le Sueur has been working hard on better broadband in 2018. In 2020, they became a Blandin Broadband Community.

The community (especially Le Sueur County Broadband Initiative county) is active with an annual booth at the County Fair and other activities. They were hit hard when LTD Broadband was awarded federal funding and then funding was revoked. They lost the funding but also lost time when they were unable to apply for grants because of LTD Broadband’s award.

They are also concerned about being in a potentially precarious position because looking at access in Le Sueur County using the FCC National Map there is a big discrepancy between wireline access (78.43 percent coverage) and wireline with fixed wireless (96.24 percent). Minnesota doesn’t currently take fixed wireless into consideration when defining areas eligible for grants; the federal government does include access to fixed wireless.

• Over the years, Le Sueur County (or cities within) has invested $ 814,000 (total) for matches for 3 successful MN Broadband grants. This is an indicator of local government that is engaged and (literally) invested in better, local broadband.
• Le Sueur County will benefit from a 2024 $1,101,801 MN Broadband grant (Round 10) award that will serve 148 locations.
• Le Sueur County will benefit from 3 line extension awards (Rounds 1 and 2), which extend broadband to individual locations.
• Last years’ estimates indicated that it would cost $21 million to get ubiquitous broadband in the county. (I haven’t updated the number because recent report offers scenarios of costs based on BEAD funding rules that make current estimates less predictable than in the past. Yet, I think the number is still helpful.)
• In 2022, Lake ranked 26 using Microsoft’s Digital Equity Tool, which looks at various factors of a community.
• In May 2024, Le Sueur was awarded $1 million for the Le Sueur County Broadband Initiative. These funds will be used to expand broadband access throughout the county.

Broadband Access:

2024 Grants:

• County: Le Sueur
  Bevcomm Inc Tyrone Township Fiber Expansion Project
  Grant: $1,101,801
  Local Match: $367,267
  Total Budget: $1,469,068
  This Low Density Bevcomm Inc. Tyrone Township project will build underground fiber-to-the-premise technology that will enable data rates of up to 1Gbps (1,000Mbps) symmetrically to each subscriber on the network with unlimited data in Tyrone Township in Le Sueur County. This project will serve 148 unserved rural locations including 104 homes, 36 businesses, and 9 farms. Funding partner, Tyrone Township will be contributing $164,000 to this project.

Past Grants:

• 2022: Bevcomm – Rural Le Sueur County Broadband Expansion Project – Phase Two – GRANT $941,576 (Learn more)

• 2016 – ECKLES TELEPHONE COMPANY (DBA BEVCOMM) RURAL HEIDELBERG– GRANT:  $188,000
• BEVCOMM (Eckles Telephone Company) – Le Sueur County Project – GRANT $1,857,376

Find more articles on broadband in Le Sueur County (http://tinyurl.com/jbg7ghy)

The maps below on the left comes from the Office of Broadband Development interactive map, reflecting data updated on December 16, 2024. Red dots represent locations unserved locations. Above I have tracked wireline access because that is the Minnesota definition of broadband. The info below includes wired and wireless. BEAD includes fixed wireless connections as served locations. (I wrote more on the distinction between the two last year, which may be if interest in the numbers range greatly for your county.)

I am doing the annual look at broadband in each county – based on maps from the Office of Broadband Development and news gathered from the last year. I’m looking at progress toward the 2022 (25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up) and 2026 (100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up) and will code each:

• Red (yikes)
• Yellow (warning)
• Green (good shape)